2+ years ago, I sat down with Dr. Suzanne Berman to discuss the idea of a "Practice Management Calendar" on my podcast.  Together - though it was mostly she who did the work - we came up with the idea of making a list of all those crazy little chores you have to do when you own an independent pediatric practice, and once we started, we couldn't stop!

"What about your wifi password? And tracking office inventory?  And cleaning out the sample closet?" 

We produced my favorite podcast ever and then had her come out to the PCC UC to do a live version of it.  There, we added two pages of additional content to the list based on audience input!  That list has been sitting here on my laptop until last week, when someone requested that I post it during our webinar series about the biggest business mistakes pediatricians make.

It all comes full circle!

Here's the new, updated list - I'm just going to cut and paste it cleanly, as you should be able to select and paste the results into whatever document suits you.  The envisioned process is to pepper it into a working practice management calendar for your office so that in any given week or month, you have just a small handful of tasks to accomplish.

I encourage additions in the comments.  And, thank you to Dr. Berman!

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Your Practice Management Calendar

Feat. Dr. Suzanne Berman

User Management and IT

• Lock out former users from:

  • EHR and PM systems

  • Quickbooks (or other accounting software), time clock software, etc.

  • On-line accounts (including email) and internal mailing lists

  • Clearinghouse and payor WWW sites

  • Lab and hospital portals

• Check all user permissions

• Check all former user email accounts and confirm forwarding

• Confirm authentication on third party purchasing accounts (Staples, PSS, etc.)

• Update the Administrator security

  • Office security system

  • Computer system

• Update your office inventory for insurance purposes.

  • You can use a video camera (like the one on your cell phone!) to document each room and closet.

• Perform a security audit (per MU guidelines)

• Update employee lists, phone numbers

• WWW site management

  • content, link check

  • cell phone

• Update/change wifi passwords

• Update practice address book looking for closed/moved practices and physicians

• Update all DIRECT addresses, check for new ones

 Cleaning and Supplies

• Clean out cabinets and drawers

• Purge old equipment

• Remove last year’s holiday cards

• Clean out sample closet

• Go sit in your waiting room and judge the experience from floor to ceiling

Policies and Procedures

• Review your policy and procedure manuals to make sure that your actual process reflects what’s documented.  Have everyone review it annually

• Review the payor policy manuals.  Most are available on line or are searchable with friends like the Verden Group

• Review all of your patient policies and handouts

• Check the handouts you distribute at your office, including yourpractice brochure

• Check all of your on-line materials

• Use “version control” (i.e., put date or version numbers on each handout so you know if what you are holding is up to date)

• Make sure any list of your staff and clinicians is up to date (letter head, sign on your door, WWW site, emergency contact list)

• Update staff photos

EHR and PM

• Make sure that you are taking advantage of every electronic transaction opportunity your clearinghouse/PM vendor offers. If you are not doing eligibility or electronic claims for every payer, check again

• Perform all vendor-specific cleanup functions

• Software updates

• Perform optional updates

• Review update training and materials to take advantage of new features

• Update pricing

• Locate all contracts and fee schedules

• Reconcile your insurance panel

• Google yourself, check google alerts, read reviews

• Unclaimed property check

• OSHA Training

• Check all voicemail greetings

• Check your WWW site (including from a phone)

• Review your lease agreement

• Review active shooter/fire/evacuation plans

• Test your UPSs and generator

• Confirm the location of all utility shut offs

• Check the crash cart

Practice Management

• Update your pricing for every single procedure listed in your system

• Review your coding patterns.

  • How is your E&M distribution?

  • Did you bill any odd procedures last year?

• Check your vaccine product combinations

  • Are the combination vaccines you use the most cost and price efficient?

  • Are there any new coverage rules from your payors?

• Check for new procedure and diagnosis codes introduced this year

  • 2017 CPT: 96160 / 96161, 99420

• Make a periodic report of KPIs.

  • If your PM doesn’t make it easy to re-run reports for previous time frames, get your periodic sample.

  • Review your measures for comparative and discussion purposes.

• Check your third party vendor costs

  • Credit card

  • Cable/Phone/Internet

  • Waste disposal, stamp machine

  • WWW Site hosting

  • Pull all of your insurance contracts and confirm any “evergreen” dates

• Clean up Quickbooks/account categories

• Check online for "unclaimed" property under your name and your practice name

• Patient cleanup

  • Mark inactive families

• Practice Education

  • Research Seminar Opportunities

• Update your wall signs (and rotate them)